EQUITY & INVESTMENT 5

“What would you like for Supper?” his Wife asked, her voice disguising the tension between them. The Chief looked up from his papers, squinting over his glasses at his Wife.

“Some cheese on toast would be fine thank you”. He always had cheese on toast, so the conversation was somewhat superfluous, but the rituals had to be observed.

They both knew the marriage was in trouble. He had grown more and more distant from her, his relationship with Susan had taken precedence, he was a virtual stranger to her, and because of his guilt, he treated her even more off-handed, even more as a mere servant.

She also knew this, but tolerated it, for the alternative was disaster and chaos, the end of everything she knew. She even knew about Susan. A so-called ‘friend’ had told her long ago of the affair, but she did not dare raise the subject with her husband, for it might mean that he would confirm the worst, and her world would end.